Wednesday 2 March 2011

Breakfast under the bridge, on Ponyfish Island

Ponyfish Island
Southgate Footbridge, Melbourne (map)
0426 501 857
Open daily 8am-1am


View of the city

Ponyfish Island, the latest bar from "St Jerome" Borazio, is located under the Yarra Pedestrian Bridge connecting Southgate with Flinders Street Station. It opened in about December and will be there until winter.

Southgate Footbridge

Until then, they're open every day from early in the morning through to 1am. Carlton, Fat Yak and Bulmers on tap during hours of libation.

Ponyfish Island Fat Yak

I went along yesterday morning for breakfast with DJ and a group of our friends, for our fortnightly CBD Bourgeois Breakfast. We had SERIOUS misgivings as we arrived, because it was gloomy, windy and cold (Melbourne having apparently leap-frogged autumn in favour of winter)...

Ponyfish Island

...but fifteen minutes later the place looked like this and we were bathed in lovely early morning sunlight.

Ponyfish Island

Understandably, the menu isn't expansive. While there are a couple of pastas and salads later in the day, for breakfast there were just three options (and no eggs, much to DJ's chagrin).

It must be said: the staff had a surly attitude problem. No doubt the early hour wasn't helping.

Ponyfish Island

I shared toast and waffles with the charming T. The toast with avocado, feta and paprika ($8, normally also comes served with dukka but they'd run out) was dry and not terribly inspiring. A wedge of lemon on the side would've helped.

Avocado on toast

By contrast the waffles with mascarpone, walnuts, maple syrup and strawberries ($10.50) were pretty good. But DJ reckons his muesli with mango nectar, bananas, strawberries, walnuts and Black Swan yoghurt ($9) was the best dish.

WafflesMuesli

I liked the design of the bar, particularly the hessian-covered recycled shipping pallets for bar stools and the battered lanterns tucked into shadowy recesses. Endearingly, Moth Design claim to have been inspired by The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Ponyfish IslandOrder pay eat

Oh and they have free WiFi, so bear it in mind next time you and your laptop want to go somewhere a little different. Just pray it ain't windy!

Ponyfish Island

13 comments:

Susan Bennett said...

Sounds like breakfast at Chapel Street on a Sunday morning. Whenever we tried it, the staff were usually so hungover from whatever they'd taken or drank the night before, there was Buckley's chance of them getting your order right. You'd be surrounded by people saying things like, "Noooo... this is not toast... this is an egg. Really. Toast NOT egg. See? See? Toaaaast. Yes, toast."

Kitchit said...

Well...That seems uninmpressive. That "toast" looked a bit shabby in my opinion. Oh, I found a menu for that cafe I tweeted you about, if you want to check out the food style:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eau-De-Vie/114158145317704?v=app_4949752878

We ate from the lunch menu and it...was...bliss.

Enjoy!

Rob Meredith said...

Cash only? How very last century!

Rob Meredith said...

Cash only? How very last century!

greenbeenfood said...

i might go for the view & sun! dayle

Fatbooo said...

That floating table looks wonderful!

Anonymous said...

A city should have nice quirky, a little bit secret places to be able to escape to. this was one of them. It did not need yet another cafe. It was a sad day when i saw that cheap fitout get installed.

Anonymous said...

Hi Claire-i seem to recall this site was a cafe quite a few years ago? Can't remember its name though but was a young(ish)melb city councillor was the proprietor?

Ashley said...

Shame there's no eggs! :c

Anonymous said...

haha i walk over this place everyday on the way to uni, never really bothered to check it out though but maybe i will sometime!

greenbeenfood said...

Love your melb gastronome visitor link! Just emailed to a girlfriend leaving for Melb for a 4 day weekend today....Dayle

susan said...

looks like it would be more of a place to hang out for drinks rather than the food. The toast looks incredibly dry, needs some olive oil drizzled across there.

Anonymous said...

This place is really a pub. Go there to drink not to eat